Monthly Archives: July 2020

Jul 28 2020
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What I have been exploring, doing Summer reading.

I finished the book I mentioned in my last post:

Case, Kim, ed. Deconstructing privilege: Teaching and learning as allies in the classroom. Routledge, 2013.

This is collection of papers, so each chapter is really a separate unit. As indicated in the title, the general topic was teaching privilege ie. getting students to think about privilege. Very worthwhile.

Taylor, Sonya Renee. The Body is not an Apology: The Power of Radical Self-Love. Berrett-Koehler Publishers. 2018.

This is a quick read. The author says some really important things about intersectionality and the importance of radical self acceptance. As a disabled person, I really connected with many of the things she said.  I recommend it. An important reminder to stop apologizing for my body.

Boyle, James. The public domain: Enclosing the commons of the mind. New Haven, Conn.; London: Yale University Press, 2008.

https://libros.metabiblioteca.org/bitstream/001/269/8/978-0-300-13740-8.pdf

I haven’t finished it yet. His reasoning is dense and complicated. I am taking careful notes, in order to follow his reasoning.  I am reading this because I began to feel the connection between OER and social justice.  It’s also important, for accessibility reasons. (As an example, I am currently not reading anything that I cannot get digitally.)

 

 

 

 

Jul 16 2020
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What I’ve been reading recently

There is a quiet period that comes to my job each summer. My work is very cyclical, which reminds me that being able to do research and publish is a privilege. This also touches on my life cycle issues. I have been a parent, but it is no longer a major part of my responsibilities.  So I acknowledge privilege.
So when it goes quiet, I have time to consider what I want to do, and who I want to be. Engaging with more reading, is connected to my deep desire to continue growing as a writer. What follows is what I have been reading recently.
History
I have been a history nerd since I was a teenager. I carried this book around for a very long time, unread.  I decided to give myself a gift, and read something that I had owned for a very long time.
  • Tuchman, Barbara W. 1978. A distant mirror : the calamitous 14th century.1st trade ed.. ed. New York: New York : Knopf.
The epilogue in this book reminded me of someone that I didn’t know very much about.
  • Harrison, Kathryn. 2014. Joan of Arc : a life transfigured.First edition.. ed.New York : Doubleday.
Many writers are looking at the 14th Century and drawing parallels with the current pandemic.  I really recommend this recent article from the New Yorker.
Before I leave history, I feel it’s important to acknowledge something I read because Erik Larson is somebody I follow. I had what looked like a really productive couple of days because I picked up books from my TBR that I had almost finished. This was one of them.
  • Larson, Erik. 2020. The splendid and the vile : a saga of Churchill, family, and defiance during the blitz.First edition.. ed.New York : Crown.
Social Justice
My community is hosting a book discussion on this book.
  • Oluo, Ijeoma. 2018. So you want to talk about race.First edition.. ed.New York, NY : Seal Press.
I recommend both this and Ibram Kendi (How to be an antiracist). Please read.
This is an important contribution to the conversation about policing.
Privilege Studies
I am part of a group putting together a book proposal on inclusive teaching.  I am learning about the theory behind the application of privilege studies to instruction.  I am working my way through this book.
  • Dessel, Adrienne B., Johanna C. Masse, and Lauren T. Walker. (2013) “Intergroup Dialogue Pedagogy: Teaching about Intersectional and Under-examined Privilege in Heterosexual, Christian, and Jewish Identities.” in Deconstructing Privilege: Teaching and learning as Allies in the Classroom, edited by Kim Case. Taylor and Francis Group.
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